


Junhui's laugh

by My_Alter_Ego17



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, I project a lot, Not as angsty as it sounds, Platonic Cuddling, Short Story, Wen Jun Hui | Jun doesn't talk about his feelings, Wen Jun Hui | Jun has ADHD (kinda), Wen Jun Hui | Jun-centric, family metaphor, this is me getting over GyuHao's friendship ruining my ship, without hating on either
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-05-25 12:47:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14977478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Alter_Ego17/pseuds/My_Alter_Ego17
Summary: Something is wrong with Jun's laugh, and Soonyoung wants to find out what.





	Junhui's laugh

**Author's Note:**

> beta-read by heckhansol (thank you, I love you), who writes amazing stories that are far better than this!

Soonyoung was sitting cross-legged on the floor, two metres from Jihoon, who was scribbling with a pen into a used-looking notebook. He was watching his friends. Seventeen had been given a free day in order to “spend some time together in the sun”, but of course they had soon split into the usual groups. After announcing what they would be doing for the rest of the day, Seungcheol had gone to sit in the patio of a cafe with Jisoo and Jeonghan. Soonyoung felt responsible for looking after the group and let his eyes wander. Chan seemed alright, he was playing football with Seungkwan and Hansol and probably winning. Minghao was playing basketball or something with Mingyu, Wonwoo and Seokmin. Every once in a while, Soonyoung could hear him giggle happily when Mingyu did something stupid or Seokmin said something funny. Chan and Minghao were like younger brothers to Soonyoung. He made sure his younger dancers were content and safe.

With Junhui, it was different. He was born five days before Soonyoung, making him fourth-eldest of the group and oldest “child”. His role was that of an older brother who was rarely there and didn’t talk much, but supported his siblings in everything they did. He would sit in the last row at the school’s play, smiling proudly, and protect his brothers with all of his broad-shouldered 1,80m from anyone who just as much as looked at them wrong. Junhui was sitting on a bench facing the field by himself and watching the 97 line (and Wonwoo) play. He often was just sitting somewhere watching the others with an affectionate smile and a twinkle in his eyes. Soonyoung could see his face across the field, his soft smile and his focused expression. No one had the patience Jun had when he immersed in something, while he was also usually the first one to start drumming on the table and bobbing his legs when they were supposed to keep still. Junhui looked like he always did, elbows on his knees and chin propped up on his hands, but Soonyoung couldn’t help the feeling that something wasn’t right. His aura was different. Soonyoung stared at him for a few minutes without figuring out what exactly was wrong. Then he stood up and nudged Jihoon. “Can you watch the boys for a little?”, he asked the shorter boy. Jihoon simply nodded and quickly looked over to the maknae line that was still determinedly playing football.

So Soonyoung went around the field and sat down next to Junhui, who put his hand on Soonyoung’s shoulder without looking up from the players, ignoring the distance of about half a metre he had left between them. Soonyoung grinned. No one could understand the weird shifts of Jun’s attention, sometimes he was extremely focused and sometimes simply spaced out. Still, something felt wrong. “He’s so … grown up”, Jun said quietly, warm smile not leaving his lips. Soonyoung frowned. Something was wrong with Jun’s smile. The change was barely noticeable, but his grin wasn’t just as wide as usually, there weren’t just as many visible teeth and crinkles in the corners of his eyes. Normally, he laughed like he couldn’t help it, as if there was an invisible force pulling apart his lips. It might be the most honest laugh Soonyoung had seen in his life, and it was a reliable source of happiness when even Soonyoung and Seokmin - whose job was to cheer the others up - were exhausted and frustrated. Jun turned giddy when he was tired, he giggled when he was shy or embarrassed and he laughed loudly at cheap jokes. “Remember when he was new and spoke almost no Korean?”, Jun asked with a faint hint of sadness to his voice that Soonyoung almost missed. “He used to hide behind me and cling to me all the time. I was glad to help him. He needed me.” Soonyoung looked at his feet. Minghao looked happy laughing with Seokmin. He had no idea Jun missed him.

Soonyoung slid a little closer to Jun who immediately started stroking his back. Giggling quietly, Soonyoung put his right hand on Jun’s knee. This again was so typical. Jun had always initiated and needed lots of skinship. Though – actually it had become less during the last year. Soonyoung bit his lip. Before, Jun used to be very clingy, he had always been backhugging someone or resting his chin on their shoulder. Recently, he just stood quietly in his spot in the left-hand corner (behind the logo). People didn’t just randomly change. “Jun, when did you get your last hug?”, Soonyoung asked. “Uhh... three weeks ago? Remember, after the concert, Seungcheol hugged everyone –“, Jun was interrupted by Soonyoung sitting on his lap, throwing his arms around his neck and his legs around his waist.

“What are you doing?”, Jun asked, this time without the hint of sadness, still tightly closing his arms around Soonyoung’s back. “It’s an octopus-hug!”, Soonyoung declared. On his cheek, he could feel Junhui’s jaw muscles move to form his characteristic boxy grin, and heard his loud laughter. “There it is!”, he exclaimed happily. “What?”, Junhui asked. “Your laugh”, Soonyoung explained, “It wasn’t completely here, and its presence is essential.” He leaned back slightly to look Junhui in the eyes, clinging to his waist with his legs. “I think sometimes we take you for granted”, he continued more seriously, “You standing in the corner with a shiny smile on your pretty face, making sure nobody feels lonely. We easily forget that it’s people like you who pull a team together. But you should never think we don’t need you. You’re... something like a source of emotional warmth? I, myself, need your smile to carry on every day. I extract the energy I need to withstand all the others’ efforts to drive me crazy from your canine teeth and the sparkle in your eyes. I’m solar-powered, you know? Anyway, as long as you can still laugh, everything is alright. But if everything is not alright, if you need a hug or someone to talk to or someone to tell you that you’re important, just say something. I’m here for you. Seungcheol, Jeonghan and Jisoo are there for you. The others are also there, if you need something, just ask.”

The muscles in his tummy had started to hurt from his position in Jun’s lap, so he climbed off him. Jun’s arms fell back down on his sides. “Okay”, he whispered. He didn’t say any more. He never talked much, you had to look at him to be able to communicate with him. Soonyoung could understand that much, he would think twice before saying anything as well if he had to articulate himself in Chinese. He pushed at his friend’s knees to make him sit back on the bench, then sat down between his legs so he could watch the game. Jun wrapped his long arms around Soonyoung’s waist and put his chin on his shoulder. And there Soonyoung remained until Seungcheol returned with the other two and took everyone out to eat. He stayed with Jun when Seungkwan hit Hansol’s head with the ball and the younger fell, scraping his elbow. Jihoon had everything under control, and he would understand that Soonyoung was needed here.

Over the next weeks, Soonyoung barely left Jun’s side. Whatever they were doing – except when they were dancing or sleeping – Soonyoung had his hand on Junhui’s back, one of Jun’s arms around his waist, two fingers around Jun’s upper arm, his feet in Jun’s lap almost all the time. Jun didn’t say anything about it, but he also didn’t complain, and he cooperated, so it probably was what he needed. Soonyoung didn’t stop when after a few days Wonwoo started joking that he was in love with Jun. When Chan would lean against him, he would push him between Jun and himself so they could both look after him. He only let go when Minghao glared at him in mock anger and claimed “I want MY best friend back!”

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first thing I post here, and I wrote it some time ago. So, just in case someone reads this in the far future and wonders why it's different from whatever I happen to do at that time, that's why XD
> 
> Anyway, English is not my first language, so comments on language and style would be needed and greatly appreciated!
> 
> And uhhh if GyuHao ruined your ship, too, or for some other reason you'd like to talk about JunHao/GyuHao/Meanie/WonHui, feel free to discuss these ships with me in the comments. I love to talk about those :D But be warned, I ship all of them so no hate! XD


End file.
